If the government decides to remove regional trade protections on the book industry, it should compensate Australian authors. But given how unlikely new funding would be, the best option – for everyone – is to leave well enough alone.

Parallel import restrictions are bad for Australian consumers, and not the best way to support Australian books.
wiredforlego/flickr.comDecember 17, 2015

The uniquely Australian literary voice is worth protecting, but parallel importation restrictions are not the way to do it. Rather, we should lift those restrictions – and subsidise Australian booksellers directly.

The issue of parallel imports will not go away – but there are other options to explore.
Mustafa SayedDecember 2, 2015

The Australian government yesterday announced it intends to repeal parallel importation restrictions on books, which has again caused concern in the publishing industry. But, really, what's the problem?

It’s never made sense that Australians pay more for books that those in the US.
Image sourced from Shutterstock.comNovember 25, 2015